Cegilune
Cegilune was a member of the Unseelie Court, the general of the Queen of Air and Darkness and 'mother' to the Hags. She spied on the enemies of her queen through the use of a sickly illusory moon that hung high over the sky during the long period of darkness in the Feywild. Even before her position as general she was reviled by the fey, however. Cegilune was a fey being who had sold out her fellows and allied with the fomorians, tutoring a young Karontor and becoming the consort of Grolantor (and possibly the mother of the Hill Giants). Her Nighthags had, at one point, invaded the realm of Mellifleur in Pluton, before her queen required her for the ritual of the Long Night, which she performed with the help of the entire Unseelie Court (she would later return to this realm). The Myth of Cegilune - the Giants' Tale The Hill Giants have long kept an oral myth of Cegilune which describes her as a fair, silver-haired maiden of the moon who could sing in a beautiful lilting voice and summon her thousands of priestesses- her daughters- to her side, each one equally beautiful. They were so graceful they could walk on water and were strong enough to lift a grandfather great-oak from its roots. When her love Grolantor left her to find his home she would not go with him, for she was powerful here and she was happy here. As time passed though, she grew complacent, she no longer looked for mortal followers and they turned their attentions elsewhere. Once they had almost forgotten her, she noticed the first wrinkle. A blemish on her skin and a sign of age. Surely this was impossible, she had thought. Then more came. Then her daughters began to age too. It was too horrible for her to take. She called forth her reluctant priestesses and called upon them to slaughter their former followers by the hundreds, retaking the souls they had once willingly pledged to Cegilune by force. Disgusted by the incursion on the Material Plane, the other deities, including her Grolantor, cursed her and her daughters, leaving them with the signs of their corruption being forever visible on their flesh. The maidens turned to crones with Cegilune becoming the most horrifying to behold, with jaundiced skin of leather that insects would burrow and crawl through. Her beautiful choir were now the Green Hags, her Prophets Sea Hags, her Protectors the Annis Hags, and her most faithful, those who killed with no hesitation for their lady, became the Night Hags. Cegilune's silver moon was now a chartreuse yellow that hung over the sky. Cegilune was once the queen of the Brokenstone Vale, until she was pushed into the Murkendraw by the Lycanthropes accidentally introduced to the plane by Aurusel. The Ritual of the Long Night The Queen of Air and Darkness called upon her general Cegilune and the other high members of her Unseelie Court. Auril was ordered to bring her forces South, pushing towards the Murkendraw, trying to eliminate any Seelie forces North of the great swamp, while Cegilune and the other hags participated in a ritual with The Queen of Air and Darkness and agents of Lolth. A sacrifice was placed upon an altar deep underground in the forest, East of the Lake of Dreams, an eladrin demigod named The Rose King would be the tribute, and his death sealed the fate of the entire plane. The Feywild was thrown into chaos as the Plane of Shadows was overlapped with the Feywild, bringing forth the Long Night, a period of unending darkness in the plane and pressing chaos, cementing the rule of the Queen. The Queen of Air and Darkness was not stopped by Titania and the Seelie Court. Despite all efforts whenever the two clashed neither was unable to finish the other off, and even with a stalemate the Long Night was ever-present. It seemed as though eventually anything opposed to the evil empire in the plane would be snuffed out, until one of the elder hags, the seer and arch-mage Baba Yaga conspired against her mistress Cegilune and the rest of the Unseelie Court. She sought out others- powerful Archfey who would stand no longer with the Queen of Air and Darkness, and who could no longer wait for the Seelie Court to act and took it upon themselves, calling upon any and all entities in the realm who were willing to lend their strength. The resulting action was the creation of a new court led by Tiandra, a young daughter of Verenestra with sunlight in her veins. Tiandra and her followers rose up against one of the Archfey that had reveled in the darkness of the Long Night, the Batlord Neifion, and they bound him with the power of light to his castle, where he remains. The Summer Court's actions shook up the entropic Feywild and others who bore witness to their liberation of lands wished to rebel as well. The son of Tiandra, a young fey in all regards, rose up against the master of the Fortress of Sorrow, Dark Crow, seizing its power for himself and rising up as the master of the citadel with the support of his lover Koliada. Together they rose the banner of the Court of Winter and became the Lord of Frost and his lady, the rulers of the Fortress of Frozen Tears, for they were those who would weep no more. Deep Sashelas and Relkath of the Infinite Branches rallied the forces of the forests and oceans and rid the plane further of the taint of the Unseelie Court. The final court came from the bottom, from those who had once been a part of the ecosystem of the Feywild and were disgusted by the actions of their peers and their Queen. The Court of Gloaming, led by Baba Yaga, rose up in a way that sent shock-waves throughout the plane by exiling Cegilune to Hades. Cegilune and her Night Hags remain in Hades still, stirring an ever-flowing cauldron of despair in a bone-filled cave called Hagsend and plotting for her revenge. Category:Gods Category:Archfey Category:Evil Category:Nature Domain Category:Arcana Domain